[Congressional Record: January 23, 2008 (Senate)]
[Page S201-S202]
OPEN GOVERNMENT ACT
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, as we start a new year--and the Senate
starts a new session--the American people have a new law that honors
and protects their right to know. I am pleased that during the waning
hours of 2007, the President signed the Leahy-Cornyn Openness Promotes
Effectiveness in our National Government Act, the ``OPEN Government
Act,'' S. 2488, into law--enacting the first major reforms to the
Freedom of Information Act, ``FOIA'' in more than a decade.
Today, our Government is more open and accountable to the American
people than it was just a year ago. With the enactment of FOIA reform
legislation, the Congress has demanded and won more openness and
accountability regarding the activities of the executive branch. I call
on the President to vigorously and faithfully execute the OPEN
Government Act, and I hope that he will fully enforce this legislation.
Sadly, the early signs from the administration are troubling. Just
this week, the administration signaled that it will move the much-
needed funding for the Office of Government Information Services
created under the OPEN Government Act from the National Archives and
Records Administration to the Department of Justice. Such a move is not
only contrary to the express intent of the Congress, but it is also
contrary to the very purpose of this legislation--to ensure the timely
and fair resolution of American's FOIA requests. Given its abysmal
record on FOIA compliance during the last 7 years, I hope that the
administration will reconsider this unsound decision and enforce this
law as the Congress intended.
In addition, for the first time ever under the new law implementing
the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, Federal agencies will be
required to fully disclose to Congress their use of data mining
technology to monitor the activities of ordinary American citizens. I
am pleased that this law contains the reforms that I cosponsored last
year to require data mining reporting and to strengthen the Privacy and
Civil Liberties Oversight Board.
Surely all of these OPEN Government reforms are cause to celebrate.
But there is much more work to be done.
During the second session of the 110th Congress, I intend to work
hard to build upon these OPEN Government successes, so that we have a
government that is more open and accountable to all Americans. As
chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I have made oversight of the FOIA
reforms contained in the OPEN Government Act one of my top priorities.
I will also continue to work closely with Members on both sides of the
aisle and in both Chambers to address the growing and troubling use of
FOIA (b)(3) exemptions to withhold information from the American
people.
As the son of a Vermont printer, I understand the great value of
documenting and preserving our Nation's rich history for future
generations, so that our democracy remains open and
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free. Next month, I will convene an important hearing of the Judiciary
Committee on the Founding Fathers Project and the effort to make the
historical writings of our Nation's Founders more accessible and open
to the public.
I will also work to ensure Senate passage of the Presidential Records
Act Amendments of 2007, S. 886 to reverse a troubling Bush
administration policy to curtail the disclosure of Presidential
records. And I will continue my fight to ensure the public's right to
know by urging the prompt consideration and passage of meaningful press
shield legislation in the Senate.
More that two centuries ago, Patrick Henry proclaimed that ``[t]he
liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the
transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.'' I could not
agree more. Open government is not a Democratic value, nor a Republican
value. It is an American value and an American virtue. In this new
year, at this new and historic time for our Nation, I urge all Members
to join me in supporting an agenda of an open and transparent
Government on behalf of all Americans.
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